You’ll often hear Capetonians say ‘this is the only city in the world where you can experience all four seasons in a single day’ – mornings are misty, afternoons are sunny, early evenings are windy and late evenings chilly.

Despite it being March, which is one of the city’s hottest months, we’ve had sporadic rain and that pesky chill remains in the air even when the sun is out. Today, I have seen enough rain, to rival Amsterdam.

The cab guy said Winter is coming early because we had summer also coming in early. We didn’t expect rain until June.

Global warming folks, I said in my heart.

The weather is so confusing, many have not yet put away their winter blankets. We use all means to keep the apartment warm, heater, blankets, coffee and even something unbelievable…continues cooking.

There was hope of the weekend bringing some beach weather, it did not, it was followed by rain yesterday afternoon and today morning.

But we live like the Capetonians, brave. A morning dush to the printer, then the university and then the office. The summit starts in four days and rain is the least of our funeral.

Make no mistake, we are very grateful for every drop of rain, besides, it always rains during our event. Every year. But this is Cape Town, One minute you can see the table mountain from your window the next minute you have no idea how to locate it.

Mother City, the host for CMS Africa Summit, She reserves the right of admission.

After a long winter break, caused by too much other work, I did a new painting. I do not really like winter especially, the cold and the snow, even if a winter wonderland certainly has its charms.The snow covers and hides the beautiful colours of nature and when the sun is strong enough, they shimmer ...

Summary (long version): Polish guy comes to Nigeria, gets investment from an American company, an Ethiopian investor and an Indian Angel investor, to run a Nigerian firm called HotelOga. Then he proceeds to mismanage and spend the money financing a lavish lifestyle. He also moves assets and shares around and does not declare income or profits – every transaction remitted to the company account has gone AWOL. Then he runs back to Poland, cries foul when Interpol tries to extradite him and then writes a book.

Summary (short version): “In short, you CANNOT sell our investment at a price we don’t know about, to investors we haven’t been informed about at terms we didn’t agree to.”- HotelOga Investor.

I will give it to him – he is a great storyteller. It was easy to identify with his struggles within the Nigerian ecosystem. Its what every local entrepreneur actually experiences – well almost all of us. I must exclude those who have their parent’s money to fall back on in tough situations. I found myself nodding to his points until it struck me that he has refused to name the “Godfather” in his epistle. Then when I read the response, I found it to be so detailed, it could not not be the truth (yes that’s correct grammar, thank you Grammarly). There have been other responses, one of note, is from O.O. Nwoye, and I have to say, that I hope that the truth drowns out Marek’s lies about my beloved country.

What it all leaves me with, is a bad taste in my mouth. Nigeria has already been labeled as a fraudulent country by the rest of the world. The fact that 90% of the ‘Nigerian’ scams perpetrated online are not done by Nigerian citizens does not seem to matter. The minute you say you are a Nigerian on any correspondence, people take to their heels. Its sadistically funny how other countries’ citizens are not all judged by the behavior of a few individuals, but all Nigerians are judged corrupt, loud, ignorant and greedy just by virtue of being born in the country.

Marek’s post is one type of misinformation that just puts us all in a bad light. Too many instances of being painted black, when there are so many good citizens of this country. We are not even the most corrupt country in the world, so why all this flack?

I have been looking for the reason why I keep getting a “No” for all the applications I push out. Every other person I have asked is getting the same treatment, even those Nigerians not living in the country presently. I guess I have my answer now.

I know that truth can be trampled on, beaten and hidden for a while, but it always triumphs. Always. In the meantime, I hope we can change the Nigerian narrative to that of positivity instead of the lies being bandied about as truth.

Perhaps you are wondering why you should attend the CMS Africa Summit this year, you are wondering why you should buy the ticket, or if it’s worth your time.

Let’s break it down together.

CMS Africa has become one of the premier technology events in Africa that bring together people across the globe including web developers, online marketers, software engineers, online retailers, web administrators, online banking admins, and company owners.

We have been doing this for 5 years now in five different African countries.

This year, we are in Cape Town, the Mother City. We will be hosting Facebook’s Africa Marketing Manager, who is also our featured speaker. Three top CEOs are flying in, from Poland, Germany, and Uganda. Open Sauce Matters VP will be there.

All the leading CMSs represented here, Joomla, Automatic, Magento and TYPO3 are well represented. Still, we are not done…exciting topics on schedule, keynote address, and breakout sessions. Networking opportunities and strategy for your business are on the table.

Maybe you are in business, a developer, a coder, a student, a techie or somebody who discovered the internet the other day, Maybe you are working on a project and in need of people to collaborate with, exchange ideas and run a show of your life….you are thinking of buying a ticket.

Travel the world and you will find few cities as beautiful as breathtaking as true to your imagination as Cape Town. Blessed with the perfect climate, spectacular vista and some of the most productive farmlands on earth, Cape Town at first glance appears to be the most spectacular place on earth, and it is.

But dig a little deeper past the picture postcard images and you will also find a buzzy urban decidedly multicultural city. Let me be clear, this is a complex city, this is a contrasting city, this is Cape Town, Welcome my friends to the mother city.

But Cape Town remains a conquered city, predominantly white, 95% maybe 99….with blacks on one side and whites on the other. But yet again we live in a conquered world.

Cape Town and South Africa as a whole have a troubled past….NO denying it, NO ignoring it. But how its people are not defined by the choices their country made generations ago, the effects of those choices are still felt are still seen and are still being reconciled today.

District 6, today what appears to be a quiet innercity residential area was once the ground zero during the apartheid regime in Cape Town. An almost entirely black neighborhood throughout the 19 and 20 century, in the 1950s….the government began segregating communities based on the color of their skin. AKA The Group Areas Act of 1950.

I would go on and on and on….but I might be right to say, Capetonians are a good people. Black, White, Coloured e.t.c Here, they are living the best way they can.

Cape Town is Now, Just Now and Now Now. Modern, natural and buzzing also cool calm and peaceful is what this city is….beautiful city surrounded by nature, mountains, beaches, kind of the best of all worlds.

When you come to a city like Cape Town, it’s easy to flip between luxury hotel, beautiful sandy beach, tourist traping a,b and c…without ever seeing any of Cape Town, if that’s your jam fine. But you are missing out on a city that has a thousand stories to tell.

So dig a little deeper, embrace your sense of adventure and this city will reward you like no other. Despite the troubled past that is far from being resolved, there is the beauty in the sense of pride, the sense of community, the pure positivity, radiating from every South African.

A lesser people would have buckled under the weight of its troubled history, but South African arent your average people, they are tuff, they are proud, they are committed…they keep smiling, and I think that says a lot about this country.

Red hearts everywhere. Red clothing in all shades and styles everywhere you turn. Blink and you just wont miss that fire engine red lipstick. Nothing brings home the truth about being alone more than Valentine’s Day.

Other days seem to be geared towards culture, tradition and family, but Valentine’s Day? I beg to differ. The celebrations have been narrowed down from showing all types of love, to just the one between a couple, as if that’s all Saint Valentine had in mind. For someone who has enjoyed being one half of a couple for a while, the loneliness hurts, so I would rather call it “Singles Awareness Day” than “Valentine’s Day”.

I’m learning to be alone, but sometimes the loneliness hits me like a ten-tonne truck. This particular year, I got to notice the adverts all over the place, because I am trying to use this same season to promote more giving and charity in my sphere of influence.

Sisu Prime Aromatherapy sells 100% natural, phthalate-free, paraben-free, cruelty-free, body and hair care products, that boost your emotional, mental and physical well-being. Our Loodus line is our first set of natural perfumes, and we are donating a part of the proceeds towards the lunch program of Street2School Initiative, a local NGO helping to keep children off the streets in Lagos, Nigeria.

Sisu Prime is @sisuprime on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

I had to actually tune into all the messages and ads around, so that I could also come up with something nice enough to increase sales and ultimately make a sizable donation to the Initiative. It seems every company and entrepreneur has one form of sales or the other for this period. I am encouraged by the high number of sales tied to charity, motherless home donations and scholarships. Boosts my heart.

If you are like me, without a significant other today, I encourage you to do what I have planned: Touch someone else’s life today – be it a random stranger, or a friend that you have not reached out to check on, for a long while. Depression is eating away at everyone in our society today, and all the hype about love will only make it worse. Let us add to the other side of the equation: show love to someone that cannot expect or even afford it, today.

Above all, celebrate your achievements. Love yourself today. Give yourself a big treat – do you know how many babies were born on your birthday that did not make it to their fifth? Do you know how many others did not get to be a teenager? So many people went through just one-tenth of what you have been through to get here, yet they are gone. Count your blessings one by one.

A year ago, I did a short Russian language course at a school in Perpignan and since then, I did not really had time to continue. As luck would have it, we have got Russian neighbours and I asked if we could meet once week for a short Russian conversation session. And so it happens ...

Where did January run to? It feels as if December was just a few days ago. I guess the days are flying by because of the upcoming elections here in Nigeria.

Today is the first day of February, recognized as the love month worldwide. As the coming days roll in, expect to see a lot of vivid red colour, on cars, in buildings, and even on people. There will also be a lot of romance in the air, with many babies getting conceived this month. And definitely, expect the invitations to begin landing in your mail, especially if you are single.
One such program is the Valentines Meetups for Professionals which will hold at Eko Atlantic, on February 14.
Bonus: People who pay through the website get a taxify code for N1100 off 3 rides.

Are you in Lagos? Are you a working professional? What are you waiting for?